Pre-revenue startup Nextdoor raises $60M for a social network for neighborhoods

Here’s another sign that things are heating up on the funding landscape. San Francisco startup Nextdoor has raised a whopping $60 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Comcast Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Benchmark, Greylock Partners, and Shasta Ventures.

What’s most amazing is that Dan Primack at Fortune reports that Nextdoor — backed by Zillow co-founder Rich Barton and led by former Yahoo employee and Epinions founder Nirav Tolia — has yet to start generating any revenue.

The startup is in serious growth mode, however, and now claims that it has social networks established for one in seven neighborhoods across the U.S.

“We believe that the neighborhood is one of the original social networks,” said John Doerr, partner at KPCB. “The Nextdoor team is well positioned to create an enduring company at the intersection of social, local, and mobile, and we are thrilled to be partners in this effort.”

As we’ve noted in the past, Zillow has experimented with its own social networking services for connecting neighbors. However, the online real estate powerhouse now appears to be moving more aggressively into tools for real estate agents rather than more consumer-focused social networking efforts such as the one being provided by Nextdoor.

Meanwhile, efforts such as AOL’s Patch — more in the realm of a hyperlocal news site for communities — have faltered in recent months.

Nextdoor has raised about $100 million in the past 18 months, and Primack notes that the latest round was raised in the neighborhood of $600 million. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’ venture firm, Bezos Expeditions, also is an investor in Nextdoor.

Barton, who sits on the board of Nextdoor, often likes to say that it is as easy to bunt as it is swing for a home run. In this case, it certainly looks like Nextdoor is swinging for the fences.

John Cook is GeekWire's co-founder and editor, a veteran reporter and the longest-serving journalist on the Pacific Northwest tech startup beat. Follow him @johnhcook and email john@geekwire.com.